History
World Conferences were originally known as "General Conferences." The first General Conference of the church, then known as the Church of Christ, was held on June 9, 1830—only two months after its organization. Convened in Fayette, New York, it was presided over by Joseph Smith. The conference included a gathering of the 27 members of the church.
Originally held semiannually, or as need arose, the church switched to an annual meeting in the late-nineteenth century. With many members desiring to meet more than once a year, summer gatherings were held, starting in 1883, as reunions (a tradition that continues to this day). In the twentieth century, the church decided to meet biannually. Then, at the 2007 World Conference, it was decided that World Conferences would be held tri-annually. Switching to a conference every three years, instead of every two, was anticipated to be less taxing on church resources, and to provide for greater participation by members who reside abroad.
The most recent World Conference was held April 2019.
Organization and management
The Conference Organization and Procedures Committee normally submits the rules and procedures to be followed at a particular conference. [2] The conference manager attends to the logistics of the conference while the World Church Secretary serves as the legislative clerk. Voting is by a show of hands, however on close votes when the chair is in doubt, votes are counted by delegation and apportioned based on the relative membership of each mission center/jurisdiction. This rather complex voting procedure is designed to protect the voting rights of international delegations that may not have been able to recruit a full slate of delegates to represent them in the conference.
Delegates attend from a majority of the fifty nations where the church is organized. The largest numbers of delegates are from the United States, Canada and French Polynesia. Translators for more than a dozen languages sit overhead the main conference floor and present real time translations of the conference to any of the delegates on the floor who prefer to participate in a language other than English. Numbered lecterns in the conference chamber are available to those who wish to speak. They gain the floor to make motions or speak by submitting a card to a computer attendant at the lectern who enters the request into a queue. In this fashion, the presiding officer is able to call upon speakers with alternating pro and con viewpoints, as well as give preference to priority motions. According to church bylaws Roberts Rules of Order Newly Revised is the parliamentary authority for the conference except where they may be in conflict with the bylaws, adopted rules of order for the conference, and past resolutions. Great deference is normally shown by most delegates to the President of the church in regards to the management of the agenda and debate, however, controversial issues are sometimes brought to the conference, thoughtfully considered from many viewpoints, and may be decided by close or split votes.
Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised, commonly referred to as Robert's Rules of Order, RONR, or simply Robert's Rules, is a political book written by Henry Martyn Robert. It is the most widely used manual of parliamentary procedure in the United States. It governs the meetings of a diverse range of organizations—including church groups, county commissions, homeowners associations, nonprofit associations, professional societies, school boards, and trade unions—that have adopted it as their parliamentary authority.
The Community of Christ, known from 1872 to 2001 as the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (RLDS), is an American-based international church, and is the second-largest denomination in the Latter Day Saint movement. The church reports 250,000 members in 1,100 congregations in 59 countries. The church traces its origins to Joseph Smith's establishment of the Church of Christ on April 6, 1830. A group of members including his eldest son Joseph Smith III formally established the current church on April 6, 1860 in the aftermath of the 1844 death of Joseph Smith.
Among many churches in the Latter Day Saint movement, the First Presidency is the highest presiding or governing body. Present-day denominations of the movement led by a First Presidency include The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Community of Christ, Remnant Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and the Righteous Branch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
In the Latter Day Saint movement, a general conference is a meeting for all members of the church for conducting general church business and instruction. When Joseph Smith established the Church of Christ in 1830, he was instructed by revelation that the church "are to meet in conference once in three months, or from time to time as said conferences shall direct or appoint; And said conferences are to do whatever church business is necessary to be done at the time." The church met in conferences regularly until Smith's death in 1844.
The First Presidency of Community of Christ, formerly the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, is the church's highest-ranking priesthood quorum. It is composed of the Prophet-President and two counselors, and they preside over the whole church under the principles of "theocratic democracy" observed in the governance of the church. This includes responsibility for the World Conference, field ministries, priesthood quorums and orders, and headquarters functions. The president of the Church holds the priesthood office of Prophet and is also a High Priest.
The World Church Leadership Council is a leadership body of Community of Christ. It encompasses the First Presidency, the Council of Twelve Apostles, and the Presiding Bishopric. The group convenes at the church headquarters in the Independence Temple. With the adoption of a new set of church bylaws at the 2002 World Conference, this body replaced the predecessor council known as the Joint Council. Bylaw provisions allow for additional members to be added to the World Church Leadership Council.
The Auditorium is a house of worship and office building located on the greater Temple Lot in Independence, Missouri. The Auditorium is part of the headquarters complex of Community of Christ which also includes the Independence Temple.
In the Community of Christ, the Council of Twelve Apostles is one of the governing bodies in the church hierarchy. They are disciples who hold the priesthood office of apostle, and are responsible for the evangelistic witness of the church. Apostles are also high priests in the Melchizedek priesthood of the church.
The succession crisis in the Latter Day Saint movement occurred after the death of Joseph Smith, the movement's founder, on June 27, 1844.
A presiding bishop is an ecclesiastical position in some denominations of Christianity.
The Standing Rules of the Senate are the parliamentary procedures adopted by the United States Senate that govern its procedure. The Senate's power to establish rules derives from Article One, Section 5 of the United States Constitution: "Each House may determine the rules of its proceedings ..."
The Standing High Council of the Community of Christ is composed of 12 persons holding the office of High Priest. The right to call members to the Council resides in the First Presidency and the call is sustained by a vote of the Community of Christ World Conference. The only mention of the council in the current church bylaws refers to their authority to approve church judicial procedures presented by the First Presidency. In practice, however, they also issue policy statements at the request of the First Presidency, such as the 1982 Standing High Council Statement on Homosexuality and the 1997 Standing High Council Statement on Privileged and Confidential Communications.
The Supreme directional control controversy was a dispute among the leadership quorums of Community of Christ, the Latter Day Saint movement's second largest denomination. It occurred during the 1920s and caused lasting repercussions. President Frederick M. Smith asserted that First Presidency decisions were binding on the church, preempting even General Conference votes. Some church leaders and hundreds of other members left Community of Christ for other Latter Day Saint churches, particularly the Church of Christ. Although Dr. Smith was initially successful in asserting the First Presidency's authority over the Council of Twelve Apostles and Presiding Bishopric, the ensuing schism persisted, and the administrative changes were short-lived. By 1931, the church's debts and the onset of the Great Depression allowed the Bishopric to reassert its authority over church finances.
Deliberative assemblies – bodies that use parliamentary procedure to arrive at decisions – use several methods of voting on motions. The regular methods of voting in such bodies are a voice vote, a rising vote, and a show of hands. Additional forms of voting include a recorded vote and balloting.
In parliamentary procedure, a motion to appeal from the decision of the chair is used to challenge a ruling of the chair.
In parliamentary procedure, a suspension of the rules allows a deliberative assembly to set aside its normal rules to do something that it could not do otherwise. However, there are rules that cannot be suspended.
A solemn assembly is a formal and sacred procedure in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints conducted to give added emphasis to the purpose of the occasion. Solemn assemblies are held at the dedications of temples and for specially-called meetings to provide instruction to church leaders. Solemn assemblies are also held for the purpose of sustaining a new church president, who church members consider to be a prophet, seer, and revelator. Such assemblies are held, in particular, to follow the law of common consent. In 1831, a year after Joseph Smith established the Church of Christ, church members believe he was instructed by revelation to "call your solemn assembly, that your fastings and your mourning might come up into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth." Historically, solemn assemblies were held on special occasions of major religious importance in ancient Israel.
The United States House of Representatives is the lower house of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper house. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
A president is a leader of an organization, company, community, club, trade union, university or other group. The relationship between a president and a chief executive officer varies, depending on the structure of the specific organization. In a similar vein to a chief operating officer, the title of corporate president as a separate position is also loosely defined; the president is usually the legally recognized highest rank of corporate officer, ranking above the various vice presidents, but on its own generally considered subordinate, in practice, to the CEO. The powers of a president vary widely across organizations and such powers come from specific authorization in the bylaws like Robert's Rules of Order.
